"I just simply couldn't keep it going and the result was I wasn't paying my bills, but I was trying not to go on benefits on the grounds that I just thought that was sort of giving up. I wasn't giving up," she said.

Explaining that somebody from the Housing Association paid her a visit and offered her assistance, she recalled: "She was stepping over piles of unopened mail and realised we had a problem. She said 'we will fix this, I will get someone to help you'".

Anne Hegerty is already a fan favourite on I'm A Celebrity [ITV]

A social worker was then enlisted to help Anne sort her bills and teach her to cope with everyday life.

She was also put on the Disability Living Allowance, which assists people with disabilities to lead their day to day lives.

Anne then claimed that it was then she discovered the "high level quizzing circuit," and was shortly after enlisted by The Chase in 2010.

Anne Hegerty is known as The Governess on The Chase [ITV]

Anne Hegerty's life is now very different since TV stardom [Getty]

Discussing her autism diagnosis during the launch on Sunday evening, having previously opened up on her condition, she said: "When you've grown up always knowing that there's something that seemed to be different about you from most people and not being able to understand until my mid-forties that what we were talking about here was autism, I’ve had to learn an awful let about myself and what I can and can’t do and what I can or can’t cope with.

Just two months ago Anne spoke out about her battle, admitting people often didn't believe she had the condition because she didn't show any symptoms.

Anne was first diagnosed with Asperger syndrome or Asperger's, a form of autism, in 2007.